I’m a police chief. I support legalizing marijuana.

As a police chief, I understand our state faces many urgent issues, but I believe reforming marijuana laws should be a top priority.

My department has gained national recognition for our Chatham Cares 4 U (CC4U) initiative, which connects people to treatment and builds a better relationship between our department and the community. This issue is personal — I have been in recovery since September 2, 1995.

I support legalizing and regulating marijuana for adult use because its prohibition has caused much more damage to communities and individuals than its use.

Marijuana prohibition has cost taxpayers billions of dollars and forced law enforcement to We know ticketing and arresting people for marijuana possession doesn’t keep anyone safer or stop people from using. We should be dedicating our justice system resources to preventing crime, holding perpetrators accountable, and serving the needs of crime survivors.

divert resources to marijuana arrests, all without improving public safety or reducing usage.

Police officers like me are tired of wasting our time on prohibition. We know ticketing and arresting people for marijuana possession doesn’t keep anyone safer or stop people from using. We should be dedicating our justice system resources to preventing crime, holding perpetrators accountable, and serving the needs of crime survivors.

Every good police officer will tell you community trust is the best shield against crime. People who trust us will report crimes and feel safe coming forward with information about incidents.

Marijuana prohibition drives a wedge between police and the people we serve. To the average person, it doesn’t matter that we are just doing our jobs when we arrest or ticket people for mari-